E is for Ezra

GIRLS

Best Lit Name: Esme is one of my favorite names, a French miniature of Esmerelda. Esme is literary (from the adorable Salinger short story, “For Esme with Love and Squalor”), exotic, cute, and elegant (it’s pretty hard to be cute and elegant at the same time!). Runners Up: Eliza (Doolittle), Emerson (Ralph Waldo), Evangeline (from the Longfellow poem of the same name).

Best Bible Name: Eden: This lovely biblical place name takes us back to the garden where our story as humans started. Runner Up: Eve. Can someone please tell me why Adam is so popular, and Eve is ten times (literally) less so? According to www.babynamewizard.com/voyager, Adam was in the Top 65 last year, and Eve was in the top…600! Anyway, I don’t get it, because Eve to me is sleek and pretty. So she got Adam to eat the apple—he ate it of his own free will, didn’t he? Well, all that to say, Eve has a great meaning—“life-life giving”—and deserves more usage.

Best Celeb E: Emery: Angie Harmon and her mister, football commentator Jason Sehorn, have contributed a nifty E name to the pantheon: Emery. Their third daughter, Emery Hope, recently joined big sisters Finley Faith and Avery Grace—a trifecta of virtue for the Harmon-Sehorns!

Best International E: Ellitta, pronounced El-EE-ta, a delicate and beautiful Dutch name I came across recently in my community: Runners Up: Elara (Greek), Electra (Greek), and Emiliana (The Italian form of Emily, also Shakespearean).

Best E Name with No Category: Ella: Welcome to the world Ella Christina Mary Finlayson!

Boys

Best Lit Name: Emerson: Cool, funky, laid back Emerson has sturdy literary underpinnings due to Ralph Waldo, of course.

Best Bible Name: Ezra: Any name with a Z in it is zesty, and Ezra, with the hipster nickname Ez, is full of energy and creativity. The biblical namesake, the scribe Ezra, is worthy, and there are a bookshelf full of lit namesakes, too (think Ezra Pound, Ezra Jack Keats, Ezra Baxter from “The Yearling.” Our Ezra is eight now, and we think his quirky, handsome, old-fashioned name suits him perfectly. Runner Up: Eli

Best International Name: Enzo: Romantic, Italian Enzo packs a punch with a roll-off-the tongue sound that can’t be beat. Elias is another favorite of mine, and I’m hearing it a bit more often now among creative types. It’s the Greek form of Elijah; so handsome!

What are your favorite E names? What do you think of Ellitta, my latest “discovery”? Tell!